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The Museum’s Collections document the fate of Holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others through artifacts, documents, photos, films, books, personal stories, and more. Search below to view digital records and find material that you can access at our library and at the Shapell Center.

Heinz W. Holocaust testimony (HVT-3844)

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-3844

Videotape testimony of Heinz W., who was born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany in 1920, the second of three sons. He recounts his father's World War I service in the Russian army and capture in Germany as a prisoner of war (he remained there and established a successful tailoring business); difficulties finding a quorum for his bar mitzvah due to laws against Jews gathering together; his father's trip to Palestine in 1934, then sending his older brother to school there; antisemitic harassment; expulsion from school and an electrician's apprenticeship due to anti-Jewish laws; reluctantly joining his father's business; Nazis vandalizing their home and beating his parents on Kristallnacht; his arrest for defending them; local imprisonment, then transfer to Sachsenhausen with his father; frequent beatings, slave labor, and pointless exercises; his father sharing extra food with him; Martin Niemöller obtaining medication for Jewish prisoners; release in 1939 based on his pledge to leave Germany; assistance returning home from his father's customer in Berlin; emigration to Palestine with his parents via Vienna and Dubrovnik (his younger brother emigrated to Palestine with a children's group); marriage; and the births of three children. Mr. W. discusses receiving compensation for his family's home and for injuries received in Sachsenhausen, which he visited with his daughter. He shows photographs.

Learn about over 1,000 camps and ghettos in Volume I and II of this encyclopedia, which are available as a free PDF download. This reference provides text, photographs, charts, maps, and extensive indexes.